Have you noticed products are getting smaller, but prices remain the same?

"Across the supermarket, manufacturers are trimming packages, nipping a half-ounce off that bar of soap, narrowing the width of toilet paper and shrinking the size of ice cream containers," the paper says.

For example, the makers of Skippy peanut butter added a large dimple to the bottom of the jar that allowed them to cut 1.7 ounces without any obvious changes to the packaging. The Consumerist blog has other examples of the "grocery shrink ray."

"The big question is whether consumers who notice they are getting less for their money will stop buying the product," the paper says.

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About Doug Stanglin

Doug is an unrepentant news junkie who loves breaking news and has been known to watch C-SPAN even on vacation. He has covered a wide range of domestic and international news stories, from prison riots in Oklahoma to the Moscow coup against Mikhail Gorbachev. Doug previously served as foreign editor at USA TODAY. More about Doug

About Michael Winter

Michael Winter has been a daily contributor to On Deadline since its debut in January 2006. His journalism career began in the prehistoric Ink Era, and he was an early adapter at the dawn of the Digital Age. His varied experience includes editing at the San Jose Mercury News and The Philadelphia Inquirer.